If you don't experiment, you don't learn.

I have 8 raised beds. I like veggies. I want chickens. I have 5 sickly-looking rose bushes. I don’t know if they made it through this dry winter.

This week, I planted peas and spinach outside and peppers, eggplants and parsnips inside. They have joined the growing ranks on my little gro-lite shelf of leeks and tomatoes.

Last fall I tried the “Lasagna Gardening” (by Patricia Lanza) method of enriching my soil. I stole leaves from my neighbors and bought two bales of straw, four bags of peat and found a place where I could get free goat/chicken manure. I didn’t build it up to two feet high as I didn’t have the resources to do so, so my piles of organic material were not quite a foot tall. They have sank down a little, but not much. I didn’t water them at all. My hubby just informed me that we are on water rationing. It started last week. We are an even numbered house so can water on Wed and Sun. Hand-held sprayers and drip irrigation systems are exempt. Four of my raised beds are on the same system as the yard. I might have to start hand-watering.

Anyway, the organic matter on my raised beds is pretty dry, but there is some rotting going on. The squirrels have been gleefully digging holes…at least I think it is squirrels. Could be mice or snakes….. but on the whole, things don’t look like there is much activity going on. When I planted the peas, I dug down a little til I reached dirt, them shoved them in. The spinach I broadcast on top of the ground up leaves and compost and then sprinkled a bit of potting soil on top then watered them…..